Malone Confident Clare Are Ready For Big Performance In Munster Semi-Final

When Clare take to the field in Cusack Park on Saturday to face Kerry in the Munster football semi-final, there will be plenty recent history to draw on.

The sides are almost annual opponents at this stage but one crucial fact remains and that is the Kingdom’s dominance.

While recent fixtures between the sides have been far closer in Ennis than they have been in across the estuary, the Banner have still not managed to break a hoodoo going all the way back to 1949 when Kerry came to the county town and were beaten in the provincial semi-final. In more recent memory, just four points separated the sides in Cusack Park in 2014, while the margin went out to six in 2017.

One of the men who was involved that day was Corofin’s Jamie Malone, who was unlucky to rattle the crossbar in the second-half of that contest when the Kingdom were on the ropes. He admits there has been a positive mood in the camp since their narrow quarter-final win over Waterford.

“There has been a good reaction since that game and a good feeling around the squad. We got the result that was required that day but there were elements of the performance we were disappointed with. We had plenty work to do but there has been a good response to that and there are lots of positive messages going around between the management and players. Once we got over the line the last day, it was about June 1 and looking forward to that game. We didn’t dwell on the Waterford game too much to be honest. We watched it back and analysed it and took what we needed to take from it and that was it. It is a good way to come out of a game really in that you are looking for the things to improve on and there was plenty in that sense. It helped us to refocus in that we were looking forward to training because we knew we had plenty to work on and that we needed to go to another level. There is a huge test ahead of us now and that is what we are looking at. We left that Waterford game behind us after that first night at training and we have just been focusing on Kerry since then” said the primary school teacher.

An Achilles heel for Clare in 2019 has been a tendency to go long periods without scoring and it manifested itself once more in that Waterford tie. Malone was the scorer of Clare’s only point of the second half on that evening, as an almost 35 minute scoreless spell almost allowed the Deise to close a seven point gap. Jamie is warning they cannot allow that scenario to happen this time around.

He said: “Our scoring rate was not hectic and went a long period without scoring again. We have spoken about that and hopefully that won’t happen again. We need to keep getting scores on the board and get the ball moving that bit faster. It needs to be at a faster pace and we need to up the work-rate too. We know all those things need to go up another level so we are under no illusions from that point of view. There is a good feeling around the lads though and training has been really positive so we are just looking to carry that into Saturday now. We have been exposed to a really high level of football in Division Two over the last few years and that has been really enjoyable. We are not really thinking about what gear Kerry might hit during the game, we are just worried about ourselves and making sure we are in top gear. We know when we play to our maximum, we are a match for anyone and on the other side of that coin, when we don’t play well, we are not, so the challenge for us is getting the pitch of the performance that is needed. If we bring the right attitude, work-rate and quality of football, that is all we can control so that is what we will be looking at. We have to just work hard to reach the standards we set for ourselves and not get wrapped up in what Kerry might do”.

Saturday evening will be the fourth time the sides have met in Cusack Park since the turn of the millennium, and an eleventh in total. Malone feels it is always an occasion to look forward to and is hopeful the home support will row in behind the team.

“It is always something to look forward to when you are playing against a good team and playing in your home ground. You are hoping to get a good crowd and I am sure that everyone who comes to see the game will be well up for it and the atmosphere will be good. I suppose really the atmosphere will stem from the attitude and approach that we bring to the game and that is something that we can control. It is massive to be there in front of our home crowd and we will be looking to hit the levels required. We have a good group at the moment that have been involved over the past six years through good days and bad. We know what we are capable of and it is just a question of getting that performance out of ourselves. There is a really good mood around at the moment and everyone is feeling really positive. We can only control our own performance and that is what we intend to do. We are happy with the squad we have at the moment and we know that whoever is called on from the bench on to do a job will do it” he concluded.